Justice Department denies House speaker probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Justice Department official denied
a report on Wednesday that the speaker of the House of
Representatives, Dennis Hastert, is under investigation by the
FBI in connection with a corruption probe.

ABC News, citing unnamed Justice Department sources,
reported that information implicating Hastert was developed
from convicted lobbyists now cooperating with the government.

But a Justice Department official told Reuters: “The story
is wrong. Hastert is not under investigation.”

Hastert’s spokesman Ron Bonjean demanded that the network
retract the story, pointing out the Justice Department denial.

“The ABC News report is absolutely untrue. As confirmed by
the Justice Department, ‘Speaker Hastert is not under
investigation by the Justice Department,”‘ Bonjean said in a
statement. “We are demanding a full retraction of the ABC News
story.”

In an update on its story, ABC quoted unnamed federal law
enforcement sources as saying that the Justice Department
denial was meant only to deny that Hastert was a formal
“target” or “subject” of the investigation.

“Federal law enforcement sources tonight said ABC News
accurately reported that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is
‘in the mix’ in the FBI investigation of corruption in
Congress,” the network reported on its Web site.

In its initial report, ABC said part of the corruption
investigation involved a letter Hastert wrote three years ago,
urging the secretary of the Interior Department to block a
casino on an Indian reservation that would have competed with
those of other tribes.

The other tribes were represented by convicted lobbyist
Jack Abramoff, who reportedly provided details of his dealings
with Hastert as part of his plea agreement with the government,
ABC said.

Abramoff pleaded guilty in January to fraud charges and is
cooperating with prosecutors in the investigation into a
conspiracy to bribe members of Congress in return for
legislative favors, which could implicate more officials and
lawmakers.

Tom DeLay, the former Republican House leader, resigned his
seat after becoming embroiled in the Abramoff scandal. Two of
his former aides and a former aide to Ohio Republican Rep. Bob
Ney have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in the
corruption investigation.

Louisiana Democratic Rep. William Jefferson is also under
investigation in a separate public corruption probe.

Two of his former associates have pleaded guilty to bribery
charges and the FBI disclosed it videotaped Jefferson accepting
bribe money and had found $90,000 in cash in his freezer.